Ski or Board?
by thepragmatist
Summary: Skiers own Sasuke's high school, which puts him and his best friend Neji at the top. But when the new kid, Gaara shows up and befriends the school loser, Naruto, the two ice princes find themselves jealous of the two outcasts' friendship. SasuNaru NejiGaa
1. Chapter 1

**Skis or Board?**

By thepragmatist

**Pairings:** SasuNaru Nejigaa. maybe ItaShi but probably no other pairings. I don't really like pairing off everyone. It's just so unrealistic.  
**Warnings: **Swearing, Yaoi, and perhaps smut. I'll add the M if I decide to.  
**Author's Notes: **Well my family's pretty hardcore skiers, but the other day when I was skiing I slammed into a snowboarder on a Mogul Trail. But also I remember watching some Disney Channel movie about snowboarders and skiers being segregated sorta. So ta-da. I really tried to make this long but..yeah.

**Sking terms:  
Mogul:** It's like these tiny hills that forces the person to weave in between them. Skiers like moguls more than snowboarders.  
**Green Circle:** Easiest  
**Blue Square: **Medium  
**Black Diamond: **Hard  
**Double Black Diamond:** Hardest

* * *

Gaara squinted as the ice cold flurry of snow fluttered onto his eyelids. He pulled his goggles on tightly before shifting his weight and flew down the side the mountain. He felt the biting cold pinch his cheeks and his fiery red hair blow back. He felt his body numb with excitement and the familiar sensation of flying as he went off a particularly high jump.

Here, surrounded by white and silence except for the sound of his board slicing through the packed snow and ice, was where he belonged.

- - - -

Temari sighed as she unpacked the rest of their belongings into the decent-sized house. Kankuro glanced up at his sister.

"He's gone again isn't he?"

Temari nodded disappointedly. "Yeah." Her brown eyes showed unnatural pain.

Kankuro placed the box he was carrying down on the bottom of the stair before placing a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder. "He's good, you know he'll be safe."

"It's not his safety I'm worried about…" Temari and Kankuro sat on the couch. This was the third time they'd moved, they dealt with the new surroundings easily, but Gaara was never quite so open. Instead of spending times with others, he would hide himself under the cold mists of the mountains.

Kankuro murmured softly. "Don't worry about it, let's just finish this."

Temari nodded, and Gaara was left forgotten for a little while.

- - - -

Gaara was on his 5th run when more people began to show up. Most people wouldn't be awake and on the slopes at 7 in the morning, but once the clock hit 8:30, people began filing in.

Gaara scowled, he hated having to share the beautiful mountain with chatty, troublesome tourists.

He slid down the ski-lift gracefully before quickly strapping on his board. Sneering at the amateurs on the ground, he swerved around them before heading down the double black diamond. He was sure he wouldn't encounter anyone. Especially since this was a mogul trail.

He almost smiled as he went for several minutes without seeing anyone. He felt himself calm as comforting loneliness settled in and he could concentrate on himself and only himself. He didn't mind that he was alone. It was better this way.

He, and only he, would love himself. He didn't need anyone else. Slowly, he felt his eyes drift close as he enjoyed the cold wind blow against his pale face.

_All alone…_

SLAM!

Gaara's eyes shot open as he felt something slam against him. He fell back and winced as his back hit solid ice. As his eyes focused, he scowled when we realized he had collided into a person.

He struggled to get up and cringed as he felt the newly formed bruised. But as he attempted to get off of the freezing snow, he realized he was tangled with the skis of another person. Growling softly he shoved the long-haired person off of him.

_Great, not only do I collide with someone, I collide with some dimwitted girl who's bound to cry. Great. Just fucking Great._

Angered by this thought, Gaara pushed harder at the girl on top of him…

…until he heard the 'girl' talk.

"Hey! Watch where you're shoving!"

Apparently the 'girl' had a really deep voice, or 'she' was not a 'she.'

The skier had untangled himself from Gaara and was balancing himself as he looked down at the redhead.

"Hey, you okay?" The brunette held out a hand. But Gaara just slapped it away and got up gracefully, ignoring the searing pain in his back.

The brunette just gave him a look and adjusted the poles in his hands.

Without even giving the boy (yes, Gaara finally decided it was a guy) a response, he turned to his side and went down the rest of the mountain.

- - - -

Neji stared after the redhead as he swerved down. Intrigued, Neji began to ski after him, shifting his hips easily through the moguls. He watched the snowboarder fly down the trail, his movement graceful and fluid, something he rarely saw in a snowboarder. In fact, it was strange that this boy was on this particular trail. Moguls were more favored by skiers. Even most of the advanced snowboarders didn't really like moguls.

What a strange boy…

Neji watched as the boy swerved out of site. He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about a snowboarder so much. Especially such a rude one.

He pushed the strange boy out of his mind and finished the trail enjoying the scenery and the speed he was experiencing.

Relaxed from the intoxicating run, he quickly turned straight into the singles line for the ski lift. For once he was glad he wasn't skiing with his best friend, Sasuke. The singles line went much faster than the group ones. Though he enjoyed the competition he had with the other boy and he hated getting paired with a chatty lift partner, sometimes he enjoyed thinking about himself and only himself.

The singles line was moving quickly and he soon found himself getting paired up with another person from the other singles line. As he pulled up next to the other person, he realized that the person was a snowboarder. And a redhead.

- - - -

Gaara had yet to pay attention to the person he was sitting next to and was enjoying the view. He breathed out slowly as he let his leg relax. Though he loved snowboarding, the rush, the speed, the absolute invigorating feeling of rushing out of control, he needed to rest in between otherwise he knew he would collapse.

Slowly Gaara began to notice the silence that took place on the lift. He was glad his partner didn't like talking with awkwardly polite tones. It was quiet, but Gaara liked it that way and sat back, relishing the silence.

"Hey again…"

Gaara scowled. There went his precious silence.

Neji felt awkward. He never felt awkward before. So he attempted to sound as natural as possible.

"You okay? I didn't hurt you too bad when I crashed into you did I?"

Gaara finally looked at the boy. How did he know that…

Oh. Right. He was the 'girl.'

Gaara folded his arms and looked expectantly at the 'boy.' He noticed that the boy had pale lavender eyes. It was strange, though he wasn't one to criticize with his fiery red hair and pale green eyes.

"Who are you and why are you talking to me?" Gaara asked bluntly.

Neji blinked.

Well, this was interesting.

"I'm Neji, and I'm talking to you because I thought that you might be hurt from that hit you took."

Gaara glared. "One I did not get hurt, and two, it was your fault you were on a trail much too difficult for you level." A complete lie, but Gaara didn't care. He was no saint.

"Excuse me? But moguls are made for skiers, not snowboarders. Therefore that was a skier trail, not a snowboarder." Neji responded arrogantly.

Gaara gave him a look. "Well I apologize then..."

Neji began to smirk.

"…I didn't know that skiers were so klutzy they needed an entire trail to themselves." Gaara smirked.

But before Neji could reply they realized they were almost at the top and they quickly raised the bar before slipping down the hill. Once they both braked, Neji turned toward the sneering redhead.

"Oh the skiers just need the whole trail so that they don't have to dodge fallen snowboarders." Neji retorted.

Gaara glowered at him before growling. "Very well then, let's see who's fallen by the end of this run."

Neji smirked. "A threat?"

"A promise." Gaara leered before starting down.

- - - -

Several hours later, the two boys were seen exhausted at the bottom of the mountain.

Neji tried to hide his panting. "That was our…6th…run."

Gaara smirked in between his heavy breathing. "What? Tired already?"

Neji shook his head stubbornly. "No way." He looked directly at Gaara. "It's just that you still haven't made me fall yet."

Gaara smirked. "There's still time." He said before heading toward the ski lift. Suddenly Neji put a hand on Gaara's shoulder, stopping him. But he quickly took it off as he felt Gaara tense.

"Yeah, but why don't we grab some lunch first."

Gaara looked away. "I'm not hungry."

Neji leaned in and grinned seductively. "You sure? You're not hungry? Not for anything?"

Gaara attempted to fight down a blush and glared at that smirking brunette. He leaned away from the boy, not noticing that he was losing his balance…until he was on the snow-covered ground and Neji was above laughing.

Gaara quickly got up and glared.

"Looks like you've fallen for me again. And I haven't fallen once. Where's your promise now?" Neji taunted.

Gaara growled and unstrapped his snowboard, seemingly ignoring the chuckling skier. He picked up his board and walked toward the lodge, pushing the surprised brunette over as he passed him.

"W-What the--? Gaara!" Neji sputtered after him.

"Hurry it up pretty-boy. You're paying."

- - - -

Naruto groaned as he tried to disappear into the ground. He was surrounded by horrible laughter. As he hid his face in his arms he knew he should've been used to it by now, but he couldn't help the tears of mortification sneak out of his eyes.

Suddenly the bell rang and the herd of laughing students scattered as a teacher walked into the class. Quickly calming himself, Naruto raised his face so that no one could accuse him of crying. As his eyes focused through the tears he noticed that the teacher was standing next to a short fiery haired boy who seemed to be terrorizing all the other students.

Naruto didn't pay much attention to the teacher and all he saw was his mouth opening and closing before he bent down to whisper in the redhead's ear and pointed straight at him.

Naruto blinked confusedly. But soon realized that the boy was asked to sit in one of the empty seats around him. After all, there were always empty seats around him. No one wanted to sit next to him.

The boy was silent if not a little creepy. His pale jade eyes scrutinized the blonde before turning back toward the teacher.

Naruto's gaze drifted down to the new kid's books and noticed that there were elaborate drawings of snowboarding moves all over his things. Surprised, Naruto continued to look at the boy's things until a hand slammed down on top of the books, shocking the blonds view away from the books and up to the owners annoyed features.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Looking at your stuff." Naruto replied bluntly.

Gaara twitched at his innocence.

Naruto seemed to realize how blunt he was and stuttered to elaborate.

"W-well, I was just wondering…do you snowboard?" Naruto winced slightly, half expecting the boy to sputter angrily how he even dared to think he was some low-life snowboarder.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Naruto perked up. "Really? I am too!"

Gaara gave him a look that said 'And-I-care-why?'

Naruto flushed and scratched the back of his head. "It's just cool how we're both snowboarders. To tell the truth, there aren't many at this school."

And since Gaara was giving him the 'I really don't care' look, Naruto continued to talk. "Hey! Why don't I show you the ropes at this school!"

"You're already supposed to." Gaara stated pointedly.

"Huh?"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "The teacher told you to show me the school."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Oh right. I wasn't listening."

"Like that wasn't obvious." Gaara mumbled under his breath.

"But that doesn't matter!" Naruto threw an arm around Gaara. "I know we'll be bestest buddies!"

And though this blond boy was incredibly loud and annoying, Gaara couldn't help but like this boy's sunniness. It was just so different from what he was.

- - - -

Perfectly manicured fingers drummed angrily against the desk. Sasuke Uchiha's day had been fine until now. He had even been able to humiliate that Uzumaki-loser before first period even began. But with the presence of the new kid, Sasuke's day just somehow got ruined. He didn't know why, it just didn't feel fine anymore. Call him superstitious but something bad was going to happen.

"I know we'll be bestest buddies!"

Sasuke's head snapped up and he glared at the too cheery sight. Naruto had thrown his arm around the new kid and grinning like there was no tomorrow. For some reason he didn't like how close the blond was the redhead. Just like how he didn't how the blond was so happy and redhead didn't look so annoyed either.

Gritting his teeth he forced himself to turn himself back toward the teacher and listen to the incessant droning for another forty minutes.

But it was hard to concentrate with the blonds incessant laughing and talking. He never had anyone else to talk or laugh to before.

Sasuke scowled. Who did this new kid think he was, making Naruto so happy. And after all that work he did to make everyone hate him! Naruto's attention should always be focused on his number one tormentor, him! Not some redhead that suddenly comes and barely says anything, but makes him so freaking happy.

The bell rang and as Sasuke packed up his things for his next class, he made a note to talk to Neji about the suspicious new kid. Perhaps he could torture the kid enough to leave the blond alone. After all, that's what he'd done to all the other kids.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** o0o0o. what did Sasuke do to the other kids?? I don't know really...

**Next Chapter:** Gaara learns about Neji from Naruto, and this Neji sounds nothing like the boy he met on the slopes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ski or Board? **  
by _thepragmatist_

**Pairing:** SasuNaru, NejiGaa, ItaShi  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, swearing, crappy and rushed writign.  
**Author's Notes:** Yeah, sorry for the late update. But I've been having difficult cranking this out. Not that I don't have enough ideas. Thanks for the suggestions, but I already have an idea on how I want this to go. So uhh yeah, thanks, but no thanks I guess :)

* * *

Neji had to smirk when he saw Sasuke walking into class with a huge scowl on his face. 

"Glad to see you too. What's the matter? Run in to your favorite strawberry-headed sweetheart again?"

To Neji's pleasure, Sasuke's scowl deepened. Neji knew Sasuke hated strawberries, and Sakura. Most likely because the girl used to be infatuated with him.

"Shut up, clear-eyes. You know I hated going out with that girl last year."

Yes, Sasuke had gone out with Sakura. But not because he liked her. Oh no, because Naruto did.

He smirked to himself just at the thought of Naruto's heart-broken face.

Sasuke had dumped her cruelly, but to his utter horror, the pink-haired girl seemed to find consolation in the bustling blond. Therefore, Sasuke was forced to take Sakura back in for another few months before breaking it off gently. Neji had teased Sasuke endlessly for all the trouble and drama he was forced through. But, everything was better now. Sasuke was in a new year and he planned making it his best.

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, gazing at the board lazily. He knew he wouldn't find Naruto in this class. It was much too difficult for him. His eyes widened when he saw the redhead from homeroom walk into the class lazily. Narrowing his eyes, he remembered why he was scowling earlier.

"Neji." Sasuke spoke softly, so no prying ears would hear.

"Hn?" Neji had been scribbling away at some drawing, his eyes glued to the paper.

"There's this new kid."

"So?" Neji glanced up at Sasuke. Sasuke never showed interest in anyone.

"And he's friends with Uzumaki."

_Ah.. so that's why. _

"What does he look like?" Neji asked, he was interested in whoever was brave enough to make friends with Naruto.

Sasuke motioned languidly.

Neji followed Sasuke's eye and froze.

-

Gaara had retreated to the furthest back corner of the room when he felt two pairs of eyes staring at him.

He looked straight back at the source and was shocked to see light lavender eyes. Scowling Gaara glared at the two ice princes before returning to staring out the window.

As the teacher walked in and began the class, Gaara felt Neji staring at him.

After half an hour of being stared at, Gaara gave in and looked toward the Hyuuga. He was surprised by the smile that Neji shot toward him and nodded in recognition.

Seemingly satisfied that Gaara finally noticed him, Neji redirected his attention to the teacher who was getting annoyed with the lack of attention in the room.

Sasuke leaned over and whispered to Neji. "Why were you staring at him?"

"Hmm?" Neji said absently.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "The new kid. You were staring at him for half the class, why were you staring at him?"

Neji looked away slightly, knowing it would be difficult to lie from his best friend. "He's…interesting."

Lucky for him, Sasuke bought it, leaning back and smirking. "He is, isn't he?" Flashing his pearly white teeth, he turned toward Neji. "This should be fun."

Suddenly Neji realized what was happening. Sasuke wanted to torture Gaara the way he had tortured the others who had gotten too close to Naruto. Grimacing, Neji knew he couldn't stand back and watch.

"What? You gunna try and drive him away?" Neji asked, knowing the answer. But before Sasuke could answer, Neji continued. "Why Sasuke, I didn't know you were so possessive."

Sasuke glared at him. "I'm not. I don't care. He just looks like a loser."

Neji rolled his eyes as the bell rang and the two princes rose languidly.

If Uchihas ever stomped, Sasuke would have. He stepped only slightly harder as he walked to his next class. He sat down, scowling. Stupid Neji. He was NOT possessive. The loser just didn't deserve any friends.

Sasuke saw the familiar bob of red hair enter then room and rolled his eyes mentally with exasperation. Seriously, was this guy in ALL his classes? He glared angrily as the redhead sneered at him before sitting down.

Seething, Sasuke felt a surge of defiance. Who cared what Neji thought, as long as Sasuke got his way, he didn't care what others thought.

His first matter of business would be sending the redhead a warning. So when the teacher entered the room, Sasuke wrote a small note on a piece of paper and threw it at a girl.

The girl, being oblivious was hit on the head. She opened the note and flushed. Looking shyly towards Sasuke, she found him to have disappeared. Instead she saw Gaara.

Sasuke smirked from under his desk where he pretended to have lost his pencil. Whatever reaction the girl offered would be hilarious.

As he sat back up, he was delighted with the situation. Turned out, the girl had sent a note BACK, only to get it intercepted by the teacher, who was now in the process of reading it out loud in front of the class. Sasuke snickered mentally.

"Hey cutie,

I'm glad you think I'm hot and sexy.

I'd love to go over to your house and let you do naughty things to me.

P.S. Oh, and I like BDSM too. Maybe sometime I can be the master. –wink- "

The teacher promptly crumpled up the note, face flushed.

Unable to utter a word, she just pointed a shaky hand to the door. Gaara only raised an eyebrow at the woman. Finally she stuttered out.

"Principal's Office…The two of you…_Now_"

"Wha-"

"NOW!"

Gaara glared coldly at the shaking woman before rising slowly and angrily from his seat and strolled toward the door.

Lazily. Sasuke stuck out his foot and…

BAM!

Gaara went down.

Gaara pushed himself up angrily and turned toward the smug Uchiha and without even thinking, Gaara pulled back his fist and slugged Sasuke.

The whole classroom seemed to freeze as Sasuke slowly looked back up at Gaara, his eyes flickering dangerously. No one had been stupid enough to hit Sasuke since… Since Naruto.

The teacher seemed just as horrified as the students.

"S-Subaku! O-Office! Now!" Eyes still fixed on Sasuke, Gaara walked out of the room, leaving a resounding slam of the door.

Inside, Sasuke was furious. The girls in the classroom were fussing over him. As one girl accidentally got too close and touched the bruise, Sasuke winced.

Damn, that new kid had a hard left hook.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, Gaara and entered the principal's office only to be told to wait. He sat down in one of the all too soft and squishy chairs and waited. Suddenly he saw a big blur of yellow jump in.

Everyone in the room seemed to sag at the blond's presence. All except the blond.

"Hi everyone!"

Naruto beamed at everyone. Gaara scoffed, he could see how fake the smile was.

Suddenly Naruto noticed Gaara.

"Hey! It's my bestest buddy!" Naruto clung onto Gaara. "How's your first day of school going?!"

Gaara looked at him. _I'm in the office you moron. How does my day LOOK like its going?_

Naruto seemed the catch the hint and grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah, well I'm in here just cause…cause… I don't know really. But I don't think my teacher likes me much."

Gaara's only response was to roll his eyes.

"But anyways!" Naruto chimed. "What're you in for?"

Gaara spoke indifferently to the boy. "I punched the Uchiha."

"Really!?" Naruto seemed to perk up at this. "Did you hit him hard?! Did you make him cry?! Oh I hope he cried!" Naruto laughed joyously at the thought.

Gaara just looked away from the bubbly blonde.

A loud voice rang from the office. "Subaku Gaara!"

Gaara stood languidly and walked into the smaller room. He went to sit down only to notice that his seat was taken…by Naruto.

Giving Naruto a 'wtf?' look, he sat down in the other vacant seat. He looked up to see a woman with overly large breasts glaring at the two of them.

As she also looked at Naruto, he waved his hands dismissively. "Don't worry about me, I'm here to support my bestest buddy."

Gaara had no idea what the blond was smoking. Apparently the principal bought this and redirected her attention to the redhead.

Gaara relayed what had happened, slowly and with monotone as Naruto awed at how much Gaara had said in one setting.

Principal Tsunade groaned. Turns out Naruto had made a new friend, and the Uchiha was determined to take him away from the poor boy. Usually Sasuke wouldn't have to resort to this and the friends would automatically leave Naruto as soon as they found out what they were facing.

Sasuke held a large amount of power in the school, over both the students and the faculty with his rich father. The only teacher not under his control was her, and she was the reason Naruto still passed.

But this time, perhaps Naruto had made an actual friend that wouldn't be peer-pressured into leaving him.

As the bell resounded into the office, Tsunade sighed.

"Ok brats, you're free to go."

Gaara looked curiously at the woman before being dragged away by Naruto.

"Ano sa, Ano sa! What do you have now?"

Gaara looked down at his schedule. "Lunch."

Naruto looked thrilled. "Me too! Let's eat together!"

For once Naruto looked to Gaara for approval. Usually by now none of his "friends" would have wanted to stay with him.

Seeing the desperation in the blond's eyes. Gaara nodded slowly but surely.

Naruto beamed and hugged the redhead. "Thank you, thank you!"

_Thank you… for being my friend_.

- - - - -

Sasuke was livid. Not only did his plan backfire, now he gets out of class to see Naruto hugging the stupid new kid.

Growling to himself, Sasuke stalked off to the lunchroom. That redhead had to die.

Neji walked out of his class, bored to death. However the sight that greeted him did not make his day any better.

He was glad that Gaara was still in one piece. But did he have to be embracing that…that…someone who wasn't him!? The blond knew him for one period and now they were hugging? Gaara and him never hugged and they spent the entire day together!

Scowling, Neji walked past the two roughly bumping Naruto away from Gaara.

Naruto would have been thrown to the ground if Gaara hadn't grabbed his hand and prevented his head from hitting the ground roughly. Gaara pulled Naruto toward him and looked toward Neji, confused and annoyed.

Naruto noticed Gaara's gaze and smiled. "Don't worry about it. That's Neji. He's Sasuke's right-hand man. Here, I'll tell you more about him during lunch."

Gaara nodded again and followed Naruto to the lunch room.

As Naruto got his instant ramen and Gaara got something indistinguishable from the school lunch, Naruto proceeded to point out the cliques in the school.

"Oh look, those are skiers. You can tell from the way they dress. All rich and preppy…"

"Hey! Those guys try to ski, but they don't do very well."

"I'm not sure about those people, they're kinda the people that worship the skiers."

Naruto continued to point out random people until he reached this one table.

"Those guys are…pretty nice actually." Gaara looked at Naruto. So far all he had heard were the groups that liked to trip him, liked to tease him, and other mean and insulting acts.

"Yeah…" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "the dog-boy and the freaky eye-brows kid do both skiing and snowboarding, so they're ok sometimes. Kiba, the dog-boy can be nice, but only if no one else is around. And Lee, well he's always nice. The only reason he isn't beaten up is cause he's wicked good at fighting and an insane skier. And the one slouching next to them is Shikamaru. I think he's really good at both also, but… well… he mostly tubes."

Gaara looked at him incredulously, well as incredulously as he could.

"Yeah, I know! But I think it's cause he's so lazy…" Naruto sweat-dropped.

"And finally the snowboarders."

_Finally!_ Gaara thought.

"That's us." Naruto beamed at him. "Yeah, not many people board here…"

Gaara groaned inwardly. Perfect. He had to get stuck in some prep school where everyone was a skier.

Great just great.

"Oh and I almost forget. The kings of the school. Sasuke and Neji." Naruto pointed at the table where only a couple people sat. "Yeah, they don't like many people near them. Some girl a while back learned that the hard way." Naruto snickered.

Gaara looked at the two. Suddenly Neji looked toward him. Gaara looked back toward Naruto.

"Yeah I assume you know Sasuke since you punched his face in." Naruto gleefully noted the purplish bruise on Sasuke's face. "And Neji was the guy who pushed me. I don't know much about him, but he does basically whatever Sasuke does. The two of them are really close. Which sucks for me cause Sasuke hates me. Sasuke's pretty nasty but sometimes Neji can be nastier, just because he rarely shows emotion while Sasuke is slightly more impulsive. Not to mention, Neji pulls the worst um…" Naruto trailed off, wincing.

"Worst what?" It was the first time Gaara had spoken during Naruto's commentary.

Naruto looked down slightly. "N-nothing really. It's just that…last time, he planned this whole…thing. A-And, I sorta had to go to the hospital."

Gaara was up in a flash. "What?"

Naruto looked away. He knew Gaara wouldn't want to be his friend after knowing he was sent to the hospital from the cruelties of Sasuke and Neji. But he was surprised when Gaara pulled his collar up toward him and growled.

"What did they do to you?"

Naruto was shocked to find anger in the pale green eyes.

"A-Are you s-still gunna be my f-friend?"

Gaara released his hold, confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

Naruto smiled a relieved smile and proceeded to hug Gaara again, who just rolled his eyes and allowed himself to be glomped by the ecstatic blond.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I know Sasuke's really posessive. and yeah. Neji's a doofus. And ItachixShishui hasn't come in yet. I really want to write this pairing though. and not an angsty one either. I've been reading too much angst xD

**Next time:** Sasuke goes a little far with his prank and Naruto get's angry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ski or Board?  
**_by thepragmatist_

**Warnings: **Shounen-ai, swearing  
**Parinings: **SasuNaru NejiGaa ItaShi (which STILL hasn't showed up yet...)  
**Author's Notes:** Ok guys. I'm really flattered you're getting really into this story, but please. Stop bashing skiers. If you read the note in the first chapter. **I am a skier**. I don't mean for anyone to DISLIKE skiers. personally I don't like snowboarding that much. it requires much too much strength. So yeah, I'm glad you're getting into it. But please.

* * *

Gaara walked tiredly to the school once more. 

Temari had been ecstatic when Gaara mentioned Naruto by accident. Who knew his sister had the ability squeal as loud as Sasuke's fan club AND run 50 miles per hour all over the neighborhood, only to collide into Kankurou, on his bike, sending BOTH of them tumbling down a hill, along with the bike into a police car.

If Gaara laughed it would have been then, standing up on the hill watching his sister and brother getting chased around by a furious policeman.

He arrived at the school only to hear the usually bustling hallway become silent.

He scowled, hating their silence. What? Never seen a person walk? Gaara thought, narrowing his eyes.

"Hey Gaara!" Relieved by some sound, Gaara accepted Naruto's company. But even Naruto seemed quiet and subdued today. As they neared his locker, Gaara suddenly turned toward Naruto.

"Ok, What is it?"

Naruto looked guiltily at his feet.

Gaara sighed in exasperation. "Naruto. What. Is. It." He ground out each syllable angrily.

Without saying a word, Naruto pointed at Gaara's locker.

A red piece of paper was attached to it.

Stomping over, Gaara snatched down the piece of paper and scanned the words.

_Board-Scum_,

_Consider this your last day Konoha Yoh High._

Gaara scowled and looked at Naruto for some explanation, but all he got was a glomp and a woeful cry. "I'm so sorry, Gaara! This is all my fault!" When Gaara looked at him curiously, Naruto hurried to explain. "Sasuke-teme hates me having friends so he usually targets them. You're the longest one who's lasted!"

Gaara froze slightly. HE was Naruto's longest friend? But he'd only known the boy for a day! Still refusing to show any emotion besides anger, Gaara walked steadily to his first class, crumpling the note and throwing it away.

Naruto gaped at him before running blindly after the redhead. "Gaara! Wait up!" He waved his arms wildly as his legs took top-speed down the halls.

…until he ran straight into a chest of one very jealous teme.

"Ow…" Naruto moaned running his head.

"Dobe." Sasuke scowled. "Watch where you're going." Neji walked up behind the Uchiha and both ice princes glared down at the blond.

"What a clumsy idiot." Sneered Neji.

"Hn." Agreed Sasuke. "Think we should give him another lesson on common courtesy?"

"What a wonderful idea." Neji jeered. "I propose we start with teaching him his place in this school. Don't you agree Naru-_chan_?"

But before Naruto could answer, another voice rang in.

"Back off, ice-bitches."

All three heads turned to see Gaara sneering at the skiers.

"Gaara!" Naruto cried out happily. Sasuke scowled, hating the way Naruto just called Gaara's name.

"Retard, your little boyfriend coming to save you again?"

Naruto flushed, but Gaara just walked over to him and helped the boy up before facing Sasuke again. "What? Jealous, Uchiha."

Sasuke scoffed. "Hardly, Sabaku."

"Then you won't mind if I do this," Gaara smirked and hugged Naruto tightly on the waist, making sure to show Naruto's flushed face toward Sasuke, who fumed angrily.

"Not. At. All." Sasuke ground out.

Gaara had him right where he wanted him. Anyone sane could figure out the Uchiha's feelings for the little blond. Fine, maybe just Gaara.

"So this is okay too, right?" Gaara kissed Naruto softly on the cheek. Gaara smirked inwardly as he saw Sasuke's fists clench. "How about this?" Gaara asked again kissing Naruto again, this time closer to his lips. "And of course, you wouldn't mind _this_." Gaara aimed for Naruto's lips. Only his pale lips never met Naruto's. Because Sasuke's fist interrupted them.

"Kisama!" Gaara yelled out as he hit the floor sporting a black eye.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled, horrified and angry.

Truth be told, Sasuke didn't really know what he was doing himself. But when he had seem Gaara kissing and holding Naruto, he had gotten so…angry.

But he didn't have time to ponder his feelings because Gaara never takes a hit sitting down and was returning fire.

One punch turned into two and soon they were in an all out brawl, Naruto desperately trying to separate the two. He couldn't live if Gaara got suspended, or even worse, expelled.

But neither boy seemed to care as they heatedly threw punches and kicks at one another.

"G-Guys! Stop!" Naruto tried frantically, only to be pushed aside.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

Everything seemed to freeze. Tsunade looked around angrily before laying eyes on the two beaten up boys. "You two, come with me. Now." She spoke firmly and strictly. Both boys stood slowly and achingly before following the principal.

Naruto looked after the two and felt tears coming to his eyes.

"Damn it."

- - - - -

"…no idea what you were _thinking_…"

"…a school, NOT prison- not a word, Uchiha-…"

"…ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

Both boys snapped their heads up to face the glare of their pissed of principal.

"Well if you're so clever, a week suspension for the both of you and two weeks detention as well should teach you something!"

Suddenly the timid lady sitting next to the furious Tsunade leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

Tsunade only seemed to get angrier. "I don't CARE if he's an Uchiha!"

Nonetheless the lady whispered in her ear again.

Finally after several similar outbursts and whispers, Tsunade sighed.

"Fine. Uchiha, you have detention for two days, Sabaku, you have a three days suspension." Tsunade looked wearily and apologetically at Gaara. He only nodded in response before getting up to leave.

The two of them left in the office in silence. It must've been lunchtime by now. The minute Gaara and Sasuke stepped outside of the office, they glowered at each other before turning the other way.

Suddenly, a blond blur came shooting down the hall.

"Gaara! Are you okay?! What's going on?! You can stay, right?!"

Gaara smirked as he felt Sasuke glaring holes into his back.

"I'm just suspended for three days" When he saw Naruto's face fall, Gaara quickly added, "Which is much better than the original week she planned on giving."

Unfortunately, this didn't seem to help as Naruto only seemed to frown deeper.

"I don't want you to go, Gaara," Naruto muttered softly.

Gaara rolled his eyes. This boy clung too easily. "I'm not going anywhere, blondie. I'm just suspended for three days. That's nothing, right?"

Naruto shrugged meekly.

"Look, I'm going to go get my stuff and then I'll walk you to your next class, okay?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's okay, you go on home, the bell's going to ring soon anyways."

Eyeing Naruto skeptically, Gaara slowly nodded his head before going off on his own.

As soon as Gaara rounded a corner, Naruto turned to face Sasuke. Sasuke was shocked to see the amount of anger in his eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" Sasuke should've expected that…

"Dob-"

"Don't you 'dobe' me! What is wrong with you!?" Naruto yelled angrily at him. Before Sasuke could answer, Naruto continued. "Why do you have some personal grudge against me?! Is it your goal to make my life as miserable as possible?! Well congratulation! You've succeeded! Finally when Gaara comes in, whom I really REALLY like, you have to drive him away. It's like you want me to hate you! Is that what you want?" Naruto's voice had quietly considerably.

"Do you want me to hate you, Sasuke?" Naruto asked softly.

_No_, Thought Sasuke _Never, I would die if you hated me, Naruto_ Sasuke wasn't sure where these thoughts were coming from.

"Because I do, Sasuke." Naruto looked up at him, his eyes brimming with tears. "I really _really _hate you, Uchiha Sasuke. I hate you so much."

As if physically injured, Sasuke took a step back, gazing at Naruto wide-eyed.

Without another word, Naruto turned around and walked away leaving a heart-broken Uchiha standing in the middle of the empty hall.

Empty, just like his heart.

- - - - -

For the next three days, Naruto seemed more subdued than usual, which made it more difficult to tease and insult him. Not that Sasuke wanted to. After that little monologue, even Neji noticed that Sasuke had become even quieter than before, which seemed impossible.

"Uchiha, what's wrong with you." Neji demanded on the third day.

Sasuke didn't answer but just stared longingly in the distance. Following Sasuke's eyes, Neji realized he was once again staring at the blond. How much could one guy hate another? Neji would never know.

"Why do you hate him so much, anyways?" Neji asked. This question seemed to jolt a reaction for the stoic boy.

"I don't hate him."

Neji snorted. "Could have fooled me."

"Apparently I fooled myself too." Sasuke murmured to himself.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

The two sat in comfortable silence before a delightful yell echoed through the hall.

"GAARA, YOU'RE BACK!!"

Sasuke scowled. Damn dobe.

He watched jealously as Naruto lunge at Gaara.

"Gaara, what're you doing back?!" Sasuke didn't even need to eavesdrop, Naruto was so excited, keeping his voice down hadn't crossed his mind at all.

Gaara's reply was a little harder to hear. "My suspension ends today, remember? I thought I'd walk you home."

Naruto squeezed Gaara tighter. "You're the bestest friend ever." He buried his head in Gaara's shoulder and Gaara thought he felt something wet.

He patted the blond awkwardly on the back. "Uh…It's fine. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"Right!" Though he still looked slightly stuffy, his face shown brightly. "Onward!"

And the two snowboarders marched off, leaving behind a shocked student population.

Sasuke and Neji stared at the swaying door, fists clenched

_Asshole, he's mine._

* * *

**Author's Notes**: o0o0o who said that last line?? and yeah, I know it's short.

**Next Chapter**: Naruto goes snoboarding with Gaara only to encounter Sasuke and Neji on the slopes. I am determined to bring Itachi and Shisui in this next one somehow..


	4. Chapter 4

**Ski or Board?**  
_by thepragmatist_

**Warning: **Shounen-ai, swearing  
**Parings: **SasuNaru, NejiGaa, ItaShi (finally! but only a bit)  
**Authors' Notes**: So yeah, this is like the fastest I've ever updated. I was just inspired by some people's reviews. I love how everyone's reviewing but I really do like getting long reviews more than anything. and well long reviews that are relevant. I try to reply to all of them. But I've gotten some that only say 'Update.' so I don't really think that's worth replying to. Any more information about reviewing is in my profile. Carry on!

* * *

"Naruto." Gaara ground out, fists clenched to his side. "Let's. GO."

"Hold on, Gaara! I still need to grab some stuff!" Gaara groaned, who knew Naruto was such a packrat.

"Naruto…I don't think we'll need your refrigerator."

Naruto just laughed at him. "Silly Gaara! I'm not bringing the whole refrigerator. Just the food inside it!"

Gaara sighed before walking over to him, picking up his and Naruto's snowboards, his duffle bag, and Naruto's duffle bag. He quickly stuffed some random articles of clothing into the bag before walking toward Naruto. Grabbing the spazzing blonde's collar, he dragged Naruto out of the house and to the bus stop at the end of the street.

"G-Gaara!" Naruto yelled out as he was plopped down on an icy bench. "What are you DOING?! I don't NEARLY have enough stuff!"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Naruto, we're staying at the lodge for two days. TWO days, Naruto. Not a week."

Naruto pouted sulkily.

Gaara sighed and looked at the black sky. They were taking an overnight bus to the top of the highest mountain they could find in the area. Luckily they hadn't missed it, otherwise, all their plans would have been ruined.

"Hey, blondie."

Naruto's head shot up to meet Gaara's gaze only to find him looking awkwardly to the side. "Wha-" Suddenly a cup was thrown at him.

When Naruto looked questionably at him, Gaara answered. "I have some hot water in my bag. I figured you haven't had dinner yet."

Naruto's confused gaze turned into a wide grin. "Thank you, bestest buddy!"

Gaara sighed. "I'm not your bestest buddy." He murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

Ten minutes later, Naruto had happily consumed his ramen. When the sound of an engine neared, Naruto and Gaara quickly stood, looking for the bus. Instead an expensive red car whizzed by, filled with hysterical teenagers.

"Nice _boards_, rejects!" One of the sounded out as they drove by.

Naruto was about to yell back when Gaara put his hand on Naruto's chest. He grabbed some things from his pocket before leaning back and hurling them as far as he could down the road. The glinting pieces of metal flew over the car and the occupants laughed mockingly.

"Nice _aim_!" One girl yelled out before bursting out laughing along with all her friends. But their laugh was cut short when suddenly their car lurched forward, spinning out of control. The teens screamed and yelled in fear as they were thrown from side to side. Finally the car slowed a stop.

The driver shakily got out of the car and looked down.

'DUDE, WHAT THE HELL!?" He yelled out angrily. "Someone left a bunch of freaking TACKS in the middle of the road!"

Suddenly he froze and quickly looked back at the bus stop only to see the end of the disappearing snowboard up onto a roaring bus. He was left speechless as the bus roared to life and drove past his stranded car. His face turned red as he saw Gaara in the window smirking below him before disappearing down the street and around a corner.

Meanwhile on the bus Naruto was having a fit. "Dude, that was AWESOME!" Gaara only smirked in response as Naruto continued to compliment him. "You are such a genius! Man, the look on their face was priceless." Naruto laughed until he had to hold his stomach.

He swung an arm around the redhead. "You're the best friend ever!"

Gaara was slightly surprised not to hear him say 'bestest buddy' since Naruto had taken to giving him that nickname.

Naruto turned to look at the window and somehow, he ended up falling asleep on Gaara's shoulder. Even more surprisingly, Gaara let him stay there for the night.

- - - - -

They arrived at the hotel at about three in the morning. Pushing Naruto into bed, Gaara went along, getting settled. He watched the blond sleep, feeling slightly envious. Gaara could sleep, but not very well. Never like Naruto who slept like a rock.

When Naruto woke, Gaara was already up and making breakfast. However, it was only six am.

"Get up Naruto." Gaara said coolly when he saw Naruto bury his head under his pillow.

Gaara heard a muffled 'no' and rolled his eyes.

"Up, Now."

He received no answer.

"If you don't hurry the bunny slope will be all filled up. Then you can't board anywhere else."

"I DO NOT BOARD ON THE BUNNY SLOPE!" that seemed to wake the blond up.

"Then get up."

Naruto grumbled as he shuffled out of bed and grabbed some clothes before shuffling into the bathroom. He returned dressed in khaki pants, a blue turtleneck, and an orange waterproof vest, which matched his orange hat. He stuffed his black gloves in the back of his pants before sitting down, rubbing his hand together excitedly.

"Ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Gaara scoffed. "Not likely."

Naruto instantly frowned. When plates of different vegetables and tofu was placed in front of him, the frown quickly turned into a pout.

Flashing his big blue eyes up at the redhead he asked pleadingly. "This isn't for _me_ is it?"

Gaara looked down at him. "Yes. Yes it is."

Naruto just looked back at the food, frowning. "Bu-"

"Just eat it!"

Naruto pouted before poking a piece of tofu and picking it up. Gaara looked annoyed as he quietly examined the piece of food before placing it in his mouth, chewing carefully. He swallowed in one large gulp before taking in some rice.

Gaara felt his vein throbbing as Naruto smacked his lips a few times before raising his eyes to Gaara.

"Gaara…your cooking…" He looked wide-eyed at the redhead. "…sucks."

Gaara growled. _Why that little…_

"Just kidding!" Naruto chirped cutely, only to yell out in pain as Gaara smacked him on the head.

Naruto sniffled before turning back to the food and inhaling most of it.

Gaara looked at him torn between disgust and pride. Luckily he had eaten before Naruto woke.

Gaara stuffed some water bottles and snacks into his bag before heaving it over his shoulder. He wore a simple dark brown windbreaker over a dark red t-shirt. His pants were waterproof as well. He looked at himself before realizing this was the exact outfit he had worn when he met Neji.

Shaking his head, he yanked Naruto out the door.

- - - - -

Sasuke was not having a good morning. He and his best friend Neji had arrived at a high class lodge the night before and fell onto their beds exhausted.

Unfortunately, Sasuke's brother and his best friend didn't. And Sasuke's room was right next to theirs.

The constant banging and moaning was enough for Sasuke to lose his mind. Especially every time he heard the sounds, he thought of his adorable little dobe-chan…who hated him. Sasuke groaned as he felt himself sink even more at the thought.

So not only did Sasuke get a bad night of sleep, now he was feeling depressed over his love life, or non-love life. What a wonderful life to start the day. Before breakfast, even!

Finally when he showered and dressed, he felt his stomach clench in hunger and decided it was time to go down to the lodge café and grab some breakfast. He stopped by Itachi's room to ask the two if they wanted breakfast. In his moment of absentmindedness, he opened the door blindly.

"OH GOD!" Sasuke shaded his eyes with his hand. "Put on some clothes!"

"Sasuke, get out of our room." His brother sounded stern.

Before Sasuke could retort, he heard a loud moan which promptly made him shut his mouth.

"Fine, you horny jackasses." He heard the smacking lips even before he got the door closed.

- - - - -

Neji was up pretty early, knowing that he and Sasuke liked getting to the slopes as early as possible. He wasn't so surprised when he heard a knock at his door at 5:30 am. But he was surprised to see Sasuke ask him gruffly if he was ready, with a slight blush on his face.

Thumping sounds from across the hall brought light upon the situation and Neji smirked.

"Walked in on them again?"

"Yeah."

If Neji snickered, it would have been then as they walked down to the elevator and headed down to the café.

Ten minutes later, they finished eating and headed out to grab their skis that had been privately stored.

Sasuke thought to give his brother a heads up that he was leaving, but decided against it. He really didn't need anymore stress.

The morning was spent skiing down the mountain and riding back up. They must've had only five runs since each run was incredibly long, taking about an hour to get down, before they decided to grab some lunch before going back up.

When they went inside, they were surprised to find Itachi and Shisui up. Itachi looked like his usual cool and collected self. Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was hard to believe such a cold bastard could be so perverted.

But when Shisui suddenly 'eeped' and smacked away Itachi's wandering hand from his thigh, Sasuke could believe it.

Sighing, he made his way over to the table, Neji close behind. They sat down, ordering a light lunch.

- - - - -

Naruto's stomach rumbled irritably. He scratched his head embarrassedly at Gaara who just smirked at him.

"Um…I'm hungry?" Naruto said sheepishly.

"I know." Gaara looked at his stomach. "Your stomach already told me."

"Stop making fun of me!" Naruto pouted. "It's not my fault my stomach can't keep quiet."

"Reminds me of you." Gaara smirked when Naruto tried to attack him only to trip on his board and was sent tumbling.

Lending out his hand, Gaara pulled Naruto up and the two of them made their way to the ski-lift. Gaara stuck a hand in his bag and pulled out a wrap. Naruto smacked his lips eagerly and grabbed the food, quickly unwrapping it.

The two of them glided in front of the seat and prepared for the chair. Naruto was too busy consuming his lunch to notice the nearing lift and was surprised by the bump at the back of his knees and fell onto the seat with a yelp.

Gaara just shook his head and took a wrap for himself. The two went up, eating in silence with an occasional 'mmm….' from Naruto. By the time they made it to the top, Naruto had eaten six wraps while Gaara had eaten two.

Taking quick gulps from their water bottles, they restrapped their snowboards. Gaara watched Naruto struggle slightly with his before Gaara sighed and bent down to help him. It wasn't that Naruto was a bad snowboarder, he very good in fact, it was just that he had a habit of spacing out and crashing into something. Sometimes he'll just be standing and randomly topple over. Though he had skill and talent, Naruto had difficulty with control.

But sometimes when they went through parks, he would see Naruto perform the most amazing tricks and jumps, which made him wonder where he suddenly got all that control.

It was obvious that Naruto envied Gaara though, since Gaara's talent wasn't very common. Gaara was a technical snowboarder, not speed. Of course he could go fast, but his real talent was through the most difficult trails he seemed to be able to weave. Unlike Naruto, Gaara always had amazing control.

- - - - -

Neji and Sasuke had finished up their meal and were going up the mountain on another ski lift. They looked over the side and decided to challenge themselves and go down a double black diamond. They were in the mood for some moguls.

- - - - -

Gaara and Naruto were doing fine so far on the trail, in fact neither had fallen yet, which seemed to be a good omen.

- - - - -

Neji and Sasuke slid of the ski lift and quickly made their way to the correct trail. Without hesitation, the two of them went down the seemingly vertical slope.

- - - - -

It had begun to snow and Gaara readjusted his goggles. Naruto seemed to be going to fast and Gaara sped up to catch up to the boy. He worried that Naruto might have lost control.

- - - - -

"Fuck." Sasuke cursed. He hated it when it snowed. Neither him or Neji wore goggles, making it much more difficult to see. Neji was in front of him, but Sasuke didn't mind since Neji produced a somewhat barrier against the falling snow. Suddenly he heard a loud noise and he saw Neji's figure up ahead, entangled with someone else.

A snowboarder.

- - - - -

_Damn it_ Gaara growled as he felt another person's weight on him. When HE doesn't fall, god has to send someone to fall on him! He saw Naruto break and turn around to look at him. He waved a hand to tell the boy to go on, but the blond showed to signs of doing so.

He wiggled around, trying to get out, but to no avail the person above him was much heavier. Suddenly the person dropped a ski pole when he was trying to get up. Gaara groaned. Not a skier. Finally losing his patience, Gaara twisted his upper body to give one forceful shove to the person on him, sending the skier toppling over.

"God Damn it!" Gaara heard the other curse.

Gaara froze. That voice sounded incredibly familiar.

"Neji?"

Neji's pale eyes widened. "Gaara? What are you doing here?"

Gaara scowled. What a stupid question. "I WAS snowboarding, until you ran into me."

Neji suddenly felt embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry about that."

Gaara just looked away. "Whatever." Suddenly he smirked and looked directly into Neji's eyes. "Told you I would make you fall for me."

Before Neji could reply, a loud voice rang from right behind Gaara. "Gaara! Are you ok- Hey wait, Neji?"

Neji scowled. There goes his hopes for skiing with Gaara like last time. It shouldn't surprise him that the redhead was here with Naruto.

"Dobe."

All three heads turned toward the source of the sound.

- - - - -

Why was Neji taking to so long to get up? Sasuke skied closer, noticing that the snowboarder had red hair. Suddenly another person came up. One with blond hair.

Sasuke was nearing the trio and he was able to see the specific features of the two others. Especially the blond one. Sasuke's heart was caught in his throat when he realized who it was.

_Naruto_…

All to soon, he reached the trio. Much sooner than he would've liked since he still had no idea what to say.

"Dobe." It spilled out of his mouth before he could help himself.

All three people looked at him, but he only noticed the bright blue eyes. His mouth suddenly felt incredibly try and he struggled for something to say that wasn't completely insulting.

"Nice hat."

Everyone froze.

Sasuke mentally beat himself up. _Nice hat. Nice hat?! Might as well TELL him you have issues._

"Uh…Thanks." Naruto looked at Sasuke like he was about to explode any second. Even Neji was giving Sasuke a strange look. Only Gaara seemed to know what was going on and looked amused at the Uchiha's dilemma.

"Whatever." Sasuke mumbled and turned his head away.

Naruto grinned slightly. Maybe Sasuke wasn't going to be such a bastard outside of school.

"Now if everyone here's done with their little love-fest, I'd like to make it to the bottom before dinner."

Or maybe not.

"Fine." Naruto huffed and strapped his board back on before descending down the mountain.

"Neji, help Gaara up. After all, you did knock into him." Sasuke ordered with a smirk before following Naruto down.

Neji scowled before straightening himself and offering a hand out to Gaara. Just like last time, Gaara slapped away the hand and gracefully raised himself up off the floor.

Together, the two of them followed their friends. But by the time they reached the bottom, Sasuke and Naruto were already at the head of the line.

"Gaara! I'll meet you up there, ok? Teme here made me wait in line with him." Behind him Sasuke glared daggers at the blond.

Gaara just gave a nod and he and Neji entered the end of the line.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yeah, i couldn't find a good place to end and I figured it was long enough to submit. Yeah have fun. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Ski or Board?  
**_by thepragmatist_

**Pairings: **SasuNaru, NejiGaa, ItaShi  
**Warnings: **Short, Shounen-ai, swearing,  
**Author's Notes:** Honestly, I was going to wait a bit and write a bit more before posting this, but I decided not to especially with the crash and fall of my latest one-shot Dominant or Recessive. I can say I'm a bit shallow with reviews. After the first a few reviews arguing about some biological fact I stated, I got tired and posted a chapter about how it was a freaking crack-fic. Only to receive more annoying reviews. I seriously considered taking it down, but I liked the story and if I recieve any more of those annoying reviews, I might just stop writing, yes that includes this little ficcy here.

A special thanks to **ArrowSphere** who gave me a lovely review on Dominant or Recessive, though she (I think..?) doesn't follow this story.

* * *

"Teme?" 

Sasuke suddenly came back from dreamland, noticing that he had suddenly gotten very close to the blond. The two of them were currently going up the very tall mountain on a single ski-lift. A few lifts behind them sat Neji and Gaara.

"Teme? What are you doing?" Naruto asked again, looking at him strangely.

Looking away, Sasuke chose not to reply, fearing his voice would give him away.

Naruto sighed and muttered, "Stupid bastards…"

Sasuke's heart clenched painfully and before he could help himself, he blurted out, "I'm not a bastard."

Naruto looked at him, eyes wide with confusion.

"Uh… I know you're not _really _a bastard. Unless your mom really did cheat on your dad, which I doubt. I mean otherwise, how would your family still seem so freaking perfect? Bastard… It's just an insult. Like loser, or dobe, or usuratonkachi, or…or…" Naruto felt his eyes beginning to sting with tears. Sasuke always called him those names.

Sasuke realized that as well and felt guilt seep into his conscience. Quietly, Sasuke replied, "I don't think you're really those things."

Surprised again, Naruto looked toward Sasuke, seeing a faint blush. "I know…I keep telling myself that…" Naruto sighed. "But it has yet to work."

Before Sasuke had a chance to reply, they reached the end of the lift and both slid off leisurely.

As they both skidded to a stop and Naruto flopped on his butt, attempting to restrap his snowboard, Sasuke couldn't stop staring at the blond.

Sasuke couldn't hide the smirk as Naruto struggled angrily with his snowboard strap. But the smirk faded as Gaara glided walked up from behind him and knelt down to help fix Naruto's snowboard.

He scowled as Naruto chirped a thank you and extended an arm, expecting to be pulled up by the redhead. Moving quickly, Sasuke grasped the hand instead and yanked the surprised blond up. Naruto yelped as he was abruptly yanked up and toppled forward, his legs immobilized by the board attached to his feet.

"H-hey, d-dobe!" Sasuke sputtered out as Naruto fell against him, sending both to the floor.

In a flurry of awkwardness both boys became entangled, Sasuke's skis somehow snaking in between Naruto's legs and preventing his from removing his leg from in between Naruto's legs. Sasuke screwed his eyes shut when he realized that his thigh was pushing right against Naruto's crotch and vice versa.

"T-Teme! What was that for!" Naruto growled, his face red from embarrassment. Naruto attempted to push himself up and off of Sasuke only to have Sasuke's ski hook onto his snowboard and send him toppling back onto Sasuke's chest again.

"Oof!" Sasuke grunted as Naruto collided with his chest. "Damn it usuratonkachi!" He growled.

Naruto glared back just as fiercely. "It's not my fault you decided to yank me up so hard!"

"Well _sorry_ for being nice! Maybe I should leave all the touchy-feely stuff for lover boy over there!" Sasuke hissed, jerking his head toward Gaara.

"What the hell's your problem!?" Naruto yelled. He didn't care that skiers and snowboarders were both stopping to look at the odd site. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

Sasuke growled and using his stick, quickly loosened his ski and pulled his leg out from in between Naruto's legs. "You want me to leave you alone, Usuratonkachi? Fine." And with that, he slipped his foot into the ski and sped off, without once looking back at the shocked blond.

Neji sighed and cast one last longing look at Gaara before also skiing down the mountain.

Gaara walked over to the stunned blond and grasped his hand, pulling his up gently, so not to reenact the incident that he had just escaped from.

"Gaara…? What just happened?"

Gaara shook his head. "Don't worry about it, the Uchiha's just being…difficult."

Naruto still looked helplessly confused. Gaara sighed and said. "Forget about it Naruto, Let's just go snowboard."

Still looking slightly hesitant Naruto agreed and the two of them hurried down the mountain.

When they arrived at the bottom, Gaara realized that it was already getting dark. Scowling, Gaara knew that the mountain closed early that day because of some technical malfunction with the lights. So the two of them decided to go back to the room to change and go out for dinner.

Suddenly, Gaara saw Neji and Sasuke walking toward the expensive lodge.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Naruto. Just…Go back to the room first. I need to go ask the…the people at the lodge about where a good place to eat would be."

Naruto looked unconvinced but left nonetheless.

Once he was out of site, Gaara quickly went after the two ice princes. Within a few minutes he was right behind them.

"We need to talk."

Sasuke and Neji spun around surprised.

Neji felt himself smile. Gaara came after him…Perhaps he--

"I need to talk about Naruto."

Neji instantly deflated. He was here about Naruto. He clenched his fists.

"What is your issue, Uchiha?"

Sasuke snapped his head up and glared heatedly at the redhead. "What's it to you? Don't worry, I'll leave you and your little boyfriend alone." With that, Sasuke spun around angrily and was about to stomp off when Gaara spoke.

"Hold it, ice bitch. You and I both know that you won't leave Naruto alone. If you want him, I suggest you make your move." Gaara turned to walk away. "Or else I will."

He left the two boys tense with worry and anger.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, Naruto was livid. Where in the world was Gaara?!

Just when he was about to go out and look for the redhead, a knock came at the door. Naruto hopped off the bed and yanked open the door.

"Damn it, Gaara where have you--"

Naruto froze. Instead of staring at his best friend, he saw the one boy who had made his life a living hell.

"Sasuke what the hell?"

Sasuke stood awkwardly at the doorway, trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with Naruto.

"Neji and I are going to this place for dinner. You…You and Gaara should come." Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. Even when asking Naruto to go with him to dinner he sounded all demanding.

"Yeah, well… I'd love to but Gaara--"

"Look d-…Naruto, just…let's forget about school." Sasuke looked at Naruto.

Naruto took a step back in shock. "Sasuke, I think…"

"We're going."

Both boys turned to look at the voice from behind Sasuke. Neji and Gaara stood calmly.

"B-But, Gaara!"

"We're going, Naruto."

Naruto sighed and nodded.

Sasuke and Neji nodded their heads slightly in response. "We'll see you in an hour."

And the two of them left.

As soon as the door closed, Naruto rounded on Gaara. "GAARA….!! What was that?!" Naruto whined. "I don't want to eat with the teme!"

Gaara stood firm. "We're going Naruto. You're not going to change that."

"But why?!"

Gaara sighed and sat next to Naruto on the bed. "Because it'll help you get over your…issues."

Naruto was utterly confused. "But…"

"Naruto. Just drop it. Come on. Let's just relax. We can get ready in a bit."

Naruto sighed and laid back down on the bed, head swirling with questions.

- - - - -

"So, what did you do while I was gone?" Sasuke asked Neji as he dried off his hair from his shower.

Neji shrugged. "I found Gaara and we just talked."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Talked?"

Neji nodded lazily. "Yeah."

Before Sasuke could ask about what, the door burst open.

"So little brother, enjoy your ride?"

Sasuke glared knowing that his brother loved slipping in innuendoes while saying them as casually and icily as possible.

Receiving to verbal answer, Itachi continued. "Well, I would assume so considering a boy of the name, Naruto just called and asked about what he should wear. He's on hold right now." Itachi held up a mobile.

Sasuke glared and lunged for the phone only to miss when Itachi raised the phone at the last instant.

"God Damn it Itachi!" Sasuke growled and lunged again. They continued this game until the phone was swiftly taken out of Itachi's hand.

"Seriously Itachi, for the clan's prodigy, one would think you would act more your age. Here you go, Sasuke-kun." Shisui said lightly, handing Sasuke the phone.

Sasuke quietly thanked Shisui before quickly turning away with the phone.

Itachi stood seemingly emotionless but if you looked closely, you could tell there was a slight pout lingering on his lips.

Shisui rolled his eyes and walked past him into the room, sitting in a chair and listening to Sasuke argue awkwardly on the phone.

"Look, You don't need to wear anything formal. It's just casual." Sasuke said, frustrated. "I mean, casual like… Dobe! Don't you know what casual means!?...what do you mean, No?!" Sasuke sighed. "Why don't you just ask Gaara to dress you up?" Everyone else in the room looked incredibly amused at the younger Uchiha's dilemma. "Oh!? What do you mean OH!? How could you have NOT thought of that?! Ugh, whatever, dobe. Just…go get ready. We'll be over in half an hour.

He closed the cell phone and threw it back to Itachi (aiming at his stupid smirking face).

Sasuke huffed and headed back into the bathroom for a cold shower. Arguing with Naruto did quite a number on him and his hormones…

* * *

**Author's Notes:** There ya go. a short update. Was gunna be longer if I wasn't so immature and decided not to write anymore. 

oh. and I might post up a picture I drew of Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, and Naruto. I actually already drew it. Since I'm still sort of pissed off, I'm contemplating whether I should post it.  
If I do, it'll be in my profile.

Thank you for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ski or Board?  
**_by thepragmatist_

**Pairing: **SasuNaru, NejiGaa, ItaShi  
**Warnings: **Shounen-ai, bad humor yadda yadda  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.  
**Authors' Notes:** Ok, first things first, I'm so sorry for taking so long. I just kinda forgot about it for a bit. Too much going on. Also, I'm sorry for seeming so whiny. Some writers would kill for so many reviewers and I'm just being picky. I felt really bad for leaving on sucha bad note. So I made this extra long. Well it seems like it to me.

* * *

After Neji and Sasuke had left, Shisui sat down in the lounge and opened a book, fully intending on finishing the thriller and downing the hot chocolate next to the warm fire for the next few hours.

Unfortunately, Itachi had different ideas.

Just as Shisui began chapter one he felt to two pale hands running from his shoulders down his torso. Shisui rolled his eyes at Itachi's suggestive notion.

"No Itachi. I'm busy."

"I know. I am too." Itachi purred, deft fingers unbuttoning Shisui's blazer. "After all, such an enticing creature such as yourself keeps me busy 24/7"

Shisui turned the page, "Itachi. Flattery will get you nowhere, except maybe the couch."

Itachi quickly extracted his hands as if Shisui was burning hot (which he is xD) and crossed his arms, scowling.

As he stretched out on the couch he hoped that Sasuke wasn't getting any either.

- - - - -

Unfortunately for Itachi, Sasuke was indeed getting some.

In fact, the minute Naruto saw Sasuke in all his sexy glory, donning a black long sleeve silk shirt and tight black jeans with a Uchiha emblem attached at the side, Naruto had moaned lustfully before pouncing on Sasuke and humping wildly, their mouths instantly connected.

Right in the hall in front of a stunned Neji and Gaara, the two of them began to rapidly strip as they moaned and gasped passionately, loving the sensations invoked by the other. Sasuke held Naruto tightly to him as he thrust longingly against the blond who seemed to lose all sense of reality as he clutched onto Sasuke desperately.

"OH Sasuke, yes! I…I've…_oh_…I've wanted this…this…mmm….so much." Naruto gasped out as he writhed against the loving Uchiha who instantly began to suck and nibble at Naruto's neck. "Yes! Sasuke! I love you! Oh yes!" Naruto screamed out as Gaara watched in horror.

Sasuke smirked and bent down to kiss Naruto on the lips only to get interrupted.

"Teme? What the hell are you doing?"

(HAHA YOU** WISH!**)

Sasuke was suddenly snapped out of his daydream only to face the reality that he indeed was NOT in the midst of foreplay with the dobe, rather he was merely drooling and leaning in precariously close to Naruto who was starting to worry about Sasuke's sanity.

Sasuke coughed awkwardly and backed off. Naruto looked at Sasuke strangely before grinning.

"So guys. Where're we going?"

Sasuke grunted softly.

Naruto blinked.

"Okay! Ramen it is!!" Naruto whooped excitedly, running off toward the nearest Ramen stand only to get yanked back.

"I don't think so." Gaara's hand clenched onto Naruto's collar. Naruto sighed dolefully.

"We're going to the Jin Palace (1) for dinner. Hope you're in the mood for Chinese." Neji said as he started walking toward the limousine he and Sasuke had booked for the night. Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke followed.

"Hey look!" Naruto looked excitedly at the parking lot.

Sasuke felt his pride swell as Naruto ran towards him excitedly. The dobe probably never even saw a limo before. Finally. Naruto would look up to Sasuke for something.

"RED PUNCH BUGGY NO PUNCHBACKS!" Naruto yelled loudly as he punched Sasuke straight in the face.

Sasuke, frozen in shock was knocked to the ground with the force of Naruto's hit.

"Ehh?! Sasuke? Are you ok?!" Naruto asked as Sasuke sat motionless on the ground, completely dazed.

"Hn." Sasuke seemed to be fine.

Which is why Naruto saw fit to burst out laughing.

"GYAHAHAH! I can't believe you fell cause of one little punch!" Naruto cracked up as Sasuke got up, brushing himself off and glaring coldly at Neji and Gaara who were looking incredibly amused.

Neji stood calmly next to Sasuke before turning toward the Uchiha and giving him a weak punch in the shoulder, smirking. "Red Punch buggy, No punch backs."

Sasuke glared and clenched his fist but according to the "no punch backs" rule, he wouldn't be able to hit Neji. So doing what any sane person would have he used his left hand to punch Gaara lightly, mumbling "Red Punch Buggy, No punch backs."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. Neji and Naruto froze knowing that they were prey to the redhead.

"RED PUNCH BUG-"

"-punch buggy no p-"

"-No Punch backs!"

It was quite a scene to behold. Four teenagers frantically punching each other.

No one noticed an old lady get into the red punch buggy, shaking her head. This always happened. She really should switch her car.

Finally, when all boys had either punched or been punched by the other three, Naruto was panting from laughing while the other three had difficulty keeping down their smiles and settled for a happy smirk.

"O…Kay then. Let's…go!" Naruto grinned.

The other three nodded and they walked toward the limo that had been forgotten due to the excitement about the little red car next to it. Which had driven off quite a while ago. After all, the old lady needed to buy cat food.

Being the oh-so-considerate one, Gaara slid in first. Before Naruto could move, Neji slid in front of him and seated himself next to Gaara. The redhead looked at Neji strangely but ignored the Hyuuga's strange behavior. Naruto, shrugging, slid in opposite of Gaara. Sasuke followed up, glad he was able to sit next to Naruto.

The car started and an awkward silence filled the car.

Naruto was the first to break said silence.

"So!" He rubbed his hands expectantly. "Is there going to be Ramen?"

He was rewarded with blank stares.

"What?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke snorted. "Dobe. Of course there isn't any ramen. We're going to the best restaurant in this area."'

"Well it can't _possibly_ be the best if it doesn't have ramen!" Naruto retorted.

"I don't think so." Sasuke smirked. "In fact, I bet that by the end of the night, you'll admit that this is the best restaurant."

Naruto glared. "You're pretty confident, eh bastard?"

Sasuke sniffed arrogantly. "Of course. Why shouldn't I be, _dobe_?"

"Fine!" Naruto growled. "Let's have a bet."

"How childish." Sasuke stated coolly. "But fine. State your terms."

Naruto glared before replying. "If I win, I get anything I want. And if you win, I give you…a buck." Naruto grinned.

Sasuke blanched. "Nice try, dobe. How about this, loser has to kiss whomever the winner chooses."

Naruto scowled. "Fine. But I liked my terms better." He grumbled as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Neji and Gaara were talking about more… mature topics.

"What the hell?! My hair color and eye color are much more normal than yours, freaky-eyes!"

"Gaara. You have red hair. NO ONE has naturally red hair here."

"Well I do! And look at your eyes! No one has white eyes!"

"It's lavender, and Hinata does as well."

"Who the hell is Hinata?"

"My cousin."

"That doesn't count. Judging from you way you turned out, your whole family must be freaky."

"We are NOT freaky! Anyways, my hair is BROWN! Your hair **and** eyes are weird colors."

"Red and Green are perfectly natural"

"Naturally weird."

"Flower-eyes!"

"Flame-head!"

- - - - - - -

Surprisingly, the limo arrived at the restaurant in one piece. Though the inhabitants were all out of breath.

Sasuke stepped out of the limo and awkwardly offered a hand to Naruto. Naruto hesitated before grasping the Uchiha's hand and allowing himself to be pulled out.

Neji glanced over at the two, and followed Sasuke's example, holding his hand out to Gaara.

Gaara however, grasped Neji's hand…and pulled him down.

Neji fell with an 'oomph!' onto the limo floor while Gaara shot him an amused smirk and stepped gracefully out, pretending that he didn't just cause a Hyuuga to fall, quite ungracefully, onto the car floor.

Neji quickly got up and brushed himself off, composing himself as quick as he could as Sasuke stifled a snicker and Naruto just laughed out loud, pointing rudely at the Hyuuga boy.

The four entered the large temple-like restaurant. Naruto stared up in awe.

**(I am not making this place up. This place exists, my family and friends went there once for Chinese New Year dinner. It was pretty awesome. See below for more ;D)**

"Whoa! This place is freaking HUGE!" And he was right. The entry door was about three times as tall as a normal door. Instead of a doorknob, a long thick vertical bar that extended up and down the entire door was used. Naruto pulled on the door.

…and pulled. And pulled. But the heavy door refused to budge. Sasuke rolled his eyes and took one hand and yanked on the door, smirking as Naruto stumbled back, the door opening widely. Sasuke snorted as Naruto stumbled to his feet and glared.

Finally they walked into the restaurant, Sasuke and Neji quickly booking an expensive room for dinner. The four sat around a large circular table.

Naruto looked down at his menu and frowned.

_What the HELL are these things?!_

"Anou sa?" Naruto asked shyly, tugging on the sleeve of a waiter.

The waiter practically melted at the cute unsure look Naruto was wearing. "…Is there any ramen?"

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Ahh…" The waiter seemed genuinely uncomfortable. "Sorry, but maybe we can make some noodle soup for you?"

Naruto lightened up considerably. "Yeah! That would be great!" He beamed at the waiter who flushed and stuttered out a "no problem" before turning to the scowling Uchiha.

"And your order, sir?"

_For you to keep your perverted eyes off what's mine! _Sasuke quickly ordered several dishes along with a bowl of rice. When the waiter looked toward Neji, the brunette shook his head. Sasuke had already ordered for him. The two had been to the restaurant so many times, they were used to taking turns at ordering.

Gaara looked down at his menu, having no real appetite. He wanted fish. Now where the fuck did they hide the fish on the menu? They should have a little fish picture next to each item that had fish in it! They had stupid little peppers signifying the spicy dishes. Why couldn't they have little fish!?

Neji watched as Gaara had his little mental tirade. Remembering that last time the two ate together, the boy had gotten fish, he decided to take control.

"He'll have this." Neji said coolly, pointing to a spicy fish soup dish. He and Sasuke had ordered it last time and he had eaten the entire bowl (while Sasuke watched in annoyance)

The waiter nodded as he jotted down the order. "Alright. Will that be all?"

They all shook their heads.

"Very well then, you can help yourself to the sushi bar and coffee machine right outside. There will also be an appetizer buffet for you while you wait." The waiter bowed slightly and left.

Suddenly Naruto stood abruptly. "I want food." And walked out.

Gaara stared curiously at Naruto who was making all sorts of subtle-but-not-really twitches and signals. Sighing, Gaara got up as well and left after Naruto without a word.

As soon as Gaara stepped out of sight of Neji and Sasuke he was yanked into the Men's restroom.

"What the—"

Gaara was faced with a flushed blond.

"Gaara! I can't do this!" Naruto ranted frantically.

"What are you talking about?"

"Acting civil with Sasuke! Gaara, he's been torturing me for all these years! How could I just let that go!?"

Gaara grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto, I want you to tell me that Sasuke has caused you bodily harm. I want you to tell me that Sasuke's actually showed that he's wanted you to get seriously injured. That he wants you to die. Or similar intentions. Tell me that Sasuke truly hates you, and I will take you by the hand and lead you straight out of here."

"…and back to our room?"

"Back to our room.." Gaara nodded. "And we'll continue like we never met Sasuke and Neji here."

Naruto looked hesitant as he thought over the past years.

Sasuke had taunted him and teased him. He had done everything possible to make sure Naruto was an outcast. That no one else would talk to him. In fact, Sasuke and Neji were probably the only ones that ever talked to him on a regular basis.

Naruto always thought it was because Sasuke hated him. But now that he thought about it, it really didn't make any sense.

If Sasuke hated him so much… then why didn't he just beat him up, or get him expelled, he could do it easily enough. He caused Naruto to become miserable, but only by making sure no one else came near him. And that one time where Neji's prank went wrong, and Naruto ended up in the hospital, someone had sent him flowers. The Nurse said it was an Uchiha-san, though Sasuke had acted completely indifferent when Naruto got back to school…

"Sasuke…" Naruto murmured. "well he… he never really TRIED to hurt me… not YET anyways."

Gaara looked smug. "Then why don't we go back in… I'm sure they're waiting for us."

Naruto nodded meekly as he followed Gaara out of the bathroom.

Gaara sighed as he sat down in his seat. He looked at Neji and Sasuke who were staring expectantly at the two of them.

"What?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Well? I thought you were hungry. Where's the food?"

"Huh?" Naruto said smartly.

Sasuke sighed. "I thought you wanted food."

"Oh…OH!" Naruto stuttered to try to find an excuse. But luckily the waiter came in with a cart of food and everyone's attention was diverted for the moment.

Naruto's eyes grew wide as a large bowl was placed in front of him.

"Is this all for me?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Mhm." Sasuke nodded offhandedly as he took the bowl of rice the waiter offered to him.

Naruto looked ecstatic and he picked up his chopsticks eagerly. He was about to dive into the bowl face first when a hand stopped him. He looked impatiently at Sasuke who was holding a smaller bowl.

Thrusting the empty bowl into Naruto's hand, Sasuke said plainly. "Use it."

Naruto looked slightly upset but took the bowl nonetheless, letting the waiter scoop out some noodles and soup into his bowl.

Meanwhile Gaara looked suspiciously at his bowl of soup. The waiter had already served him, but he still hadn't taken a bite.

"What is this?" Gaara asked disdainfully. He had forgotten that he had let Neji order for him.

Neji, who had already begun eating, shrugged. "I thought you might have wanted to order a fish dish, but didn't know which dish contained it." Gaara glared at the Hyuuga for reading his mind. "So I ordered this, it's pretty good. Sasuke and I had it last time."

Still looking suspicious, Gaara picked up his chopsticks and broke off a piece of the fish. Carefully, he put it into his mouth and began chewing. He finally swallowed. Neji waited for his reaction.

Gaara shrugged and continued to eat. Neji breathed a mental sigh of relief.

The four ate in peace for a while, until Naruto wanted to try some of everyone else's. Neji and Sasuke could care less as Naruto picked a bit off of each of their dish. They were mostly vegetables so Naruto wasn't too eager. But when Naruto got to Gaara, Gaara had gotten slightly protective of his food.

"OH COME ON GAARA!" Naruto whined.

Gaara just glared. "No."

"Sasuke and Neji let me have some of theirs…!"

"Sasuke and Neji are morons." Said morons choked a bit before glaring at the redhead who showed no remorse.

"Aw come on. Just one bite."

"I really don't think you want to try this." Gaara said coolly.

Naruto ignored him and picked up his chopsticks.

"Really." Gaara tried again, "It's pretty spicy."

"Bah!" Naruto scoffed. "I'm not falling for your stupid tricks. I'm having some no matter what!" And with that Naruto took a big bite of fish. "See? This isn't so—HOLY CRAP!" Naruto spat the fish out and began coughing violently rasping for water.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Told you."

Tears started to appear in Naruto's eyes as this tongue and throat burned. Sitting next to Naruto, Sasuke sighed and gave Naruto his water since Naruto had already drank his. As Naruto downed his cup, Sasuke stood and walked to the corner of the room with there was a pitcher and cups. Ignoring the cups, he brought the pitcher back to Naruto, who practically leapt on Sasuke to get the water.

Naruto swallowed the water as fast as he could, but the minute he stopped drinking the ice cold water, the burning would come back.

"It hurts! Oh god it hurts!" Naruto yelled frantically.

"Calm down, dobe." Sasuke sighed.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, I'M **DYING** HERE!" Naruto roared as he tried to drink and talk at the same time.

"It's not that hot, wimp." Sasuke said lazily, further pissing off Naruto.

"Damn you, teme!" Naruto yelled. "It is TOO that hot! Here, have a taste!" Naruto growled , grabbing Sasuke's collar and pulling him close, smothering his lips.

Naruto was right, his mouth was hot and his tongue really was burning. Sasuke restrained himself from moaning as Naruto shoved his tongue down his throat.

Suddenly, Naruto realized what he was doing and pulled back quickly, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

Neji and Gaara just watched in shock.

_Well. That was unexpected,_ Gaara thought. _Though not completely shocking_.

Naruto panted heavily from yelling, kissing, and eating that spice. Suddenly he straightened up. "Hey! My mouth isn't hurting anymore!"

Sasuke groaned. "Speak for yourself" As he drank some water.

Naruto blushed as he quickly ate his noodles, avoiding Sasuke's gaze.

The rest of the meal continued pretty much undisturbed. (Except for when Gaara threw half his food at Neji when Neji asked him if his mouth was burning and that he could cool it like Sasuke did to Naruto)

By the time the four had left the restaurant, it was already late and they were feeling exhausted as they climbed into the back of the limo.

Naruto was the most tired and his eyes drooped lazily.

Sasuke noticed Naruto's dazed look and waved a hand in front of the blond. "Oi, dobe. Hello? Anyone there?" Suddenly Naruto let out a snore and fell over.

"Whoa!" Sasuke cried as Naruto toppled over into his lap. Sasuke flushed slightly before pushing turning Naruto's body so he was facing up. Gaara leaned forward and pushed Naruto's legs onto the seat so he was laying down. As they continued the ride in silence, Sasuke began to stroke Naruto's blond hair softly, but quickly stopped when he caught Neji's eye, scowling as the brunette smirked at his expense.

"So Gaara" Neji started, looking at the redhead who was just looking out the window.

"Hm?" Gaara turned away from the window expectantly.

"What are you two doing tomorrow?"

Gaara shrugged. "Snowboarding."

Neji blanched. "I know that, but do you want to meet up sometime?"

"We have to leave at noon tomorrow." Gaara said blankly.

"Why?"

"We have to catch a bus back to town."

"There's no need!" Neji insisted. "We can drive you back." Neji looked earnest but Gaara was surprised to see Sasuke slightly nervous about the idea.

Gaara shook his head. "No thanks."

Neji looked slightly disheartened but accepted. "Well we can at least meet up, right? How about six?"

Gaara shook his head. "Too late."

"Five?"

"Yeah."

Suddenly Naruto turned on his side so that his back was facing Neji and Gaara and started snuggling toward Sasuke. Gulping, Sasuke willed himself to stay still as Naruto cuddled…against…his…groin.

Gaara looked far too amused at Sasuke's predicament and Neji was starting to think he didn't know his best friend as well as he should have. Then, all of the sudden, Naruto stretched and rolled away from Sasuke. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief before he realized Naruto was rolling dangerously close to the edge of the seat. Sasuke tried to grab Naruto but it was too late when the blond rolled off the seat with a thump.

Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara waited anxiously for Naruto to wake up and start yelling, only to hear soft snoring once again. Sighing, Sasuke picked up Naruto and placed him back on his lap.

Damn. Naruto's a heavy sleeper.

- - - - -

When they reached Naruto and Gaara's motel, Naruto was still sleeping soundly. Looking annoyed, Gaara scooped up Naruto from Sasuke's arms (who gave a displeased grunt) and proceeded to walk back into the building.

"Wait Gaara!" Neji called. Gaara paused slightly, waiting for Neji to speak. "G-Good night."

Gaara looked over his shoulder and nodded before continuing to walk away.

* * *

**Authors' Note: **(1) My family went to the Jin Palace and everything I described in the story about it is true. They had an escalator and it was on this huge hill and on the top floor there was like a little bridge and waterfall and everything. My family got a private room with the paperwalls and sliding doors. It was so cool. But we also had soome sketchy guy take pictures of us and run. sigh It all comes with having a CEO mother. I tried chasing the guy but I lost him xP

OH and if Sasuke and Neji seem too nice in this chapter don't bug me about it. It's part of the plot!

Ahmm so that's it.


End file.
